Clive Tyldesley: "And Mourinho rolls the dice! He has brought on Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka to replace Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia. The two veterans gave everything, but they were clearly nearing their physical limits against City's relentless passing and can no longer provide sufficient defensive intensity."
Ally McCoist: "It's a smart, necessary change, Clive. Moreover, I believe Manchester United should take this opportunity to restart their overlapping attacking system on the wings with fresh legs. Wan-Bissaka's pace will be vital."
Clive Tyldesley: "As for Manchester City, Pep Guardiola responds in kind. Leroy Sané has replaced Raheem Sterling."
The camera returned to the green pitch.
Before leaving the field, Valencia jogged up to Ling, removed the captain's armband, and personally strapped it onto his left arm.
"Ling, every time I leave the pitch now, I feel incredibly at ease. Do you know why?" Valencia said, breathing heavily.
Without waiting for Ling to answer, Valencia said with absolute certainty, "Because I believe you can lead them to victory. Go for it!"
After speaking, he quickly turned and jogged toward the touchline, applauding the traveling fans.
"Antonio!" Ling called out.
Watching the veteran captain's retreating figure, Ling smiled and declared loudly, "Just wait to applaud for me!"
It wasn't that he had suddenly become overly sentimental, but whenever he felt the tight restraint of the armband on his upper arm, he inevitably felt the immense, historic weight of the club on his shoulders.
Of course, perhaps others looking at his confident demeanor didn't see it that way.
After the match restarted, Manchester City's fierce offensive surged forward once again.
This time, they had learned their lesson, avoiding the left side where Kante was tirelessly sweeping and deliberately focusing their attacks on the right side where Nemanja Matic was stationed, targeting the Serbian's lack of mobility.
Ally McCoist: "Mourinho's predictive substitution was absolutely crucial there. If not for Wan-Bissaka's frequent, rapid defensive support covering the space, that right flank might have just been torn apart by Sané and De Bruyne!"
Clive Tyldesley: "However, Manchester United's double defensive midfielder setup inherently possesses considerable, stubborn strength. If Guardiola is the master of playing with a roaming attacking midfielder, then Mourinho is the undisputed master of playing with a defensive midfielder block. The two represent the absolute pinnacle of attack and defense!"
The situation reverted to how it was at the bitter end of the first half, with intense, crunching physical confrontations creating a suffocating atmosphere for both sets of players.
76th minute.
The tense situation finally began to change.
Aymeric Laporte, stepping out from the back, delivered a pinpoint mid-range long pass straight to Kevin De Bruyne.
At this point in his career, De Bruyne was arguably at his absolute peak, his physical fitness hadn't declined as severely as it would in the future, allowing him to cover immense ground.
Before Ling could sprint back to apply pressure, De Bruyne beautifully completed the pass with a single, cushioned touch.
Ilkay Gundogan made a darting forward run from the central area to receive the layoff, while Paul Pogba completely failed to track back, leaving a massive, dangerous gap in Manchester United's midfield!
"RUN, PAUL!" Mourinho roared in absolute frustration from the technical area.
He had long known that placing Pogba in a more advanced attacking midfielder role would inevitably lead to defensive negligence in transition.
Previously against weaker teams, Manchester United had been able to mask this exact issue with their exceptionally strong, high-scoring attacking line.
But in the face of Manchester City's balanced and formidable strength, this fatal flaw was completely, ruthlessly exposed!
If you don't do your job properly, your teammates suffer.
This statement held true immediately, as Nemanja Matic was forced to push awkwardly forward to close down Gundogan, simultaneously calling out frantically to Kante.
"Cover for me, N'Golo!"
Kante glanced quickly to his right, where David Silva was making a ghosting diagonal run into the space Matic had just vacated.
Kante then subtly shifted a few rapid steps sideways, anticipating the angle.
Just as expected!
Watching Gundogan shape to pass the ball in Silva's direction, Kante suddenly accelerated his sprint, perfectly intercepting the ball before the Spanish maestro could reach it!
Due to his severe height disadvantage, Kante struggles to play as a lone, anchoring defensive midfielder.
From partnering Pogba in the French national team to Tiemoué Bakayoko at Chelsea, he has always required a taller, physical partner to win aerial duels.
When asked by the media who his favorite midfield partner was, Kante had hesitated for a long time before finally naming Nemanja Matic.
Because Kante is short but incredibly quick and agile, while Matic is tall but less nimble, and they happen to complement each other perfectly—one left-footed, one right-footed, forming an impenetrable wall.
"A beautiful tackle!" Mourinho swung his fist vigorously on the touchline.
Mourinho stared intently at Kante as the Frenchman secured possession, muttering under his breath.
"Paul didn't drop back to defend and is actually in the best attacking position right now, but..."
But Ilkay Gundogan was already aggressively tracking back, and he could easily intercept the direct connection between Kante and Pogba at any moment!
A direct pass wasn't the best option.
Kante lifted his head to quickly assess the chaotic situation, feigning a long pass to Pogba to draw Gundogan leaning to the right.
But in that very microsecond, the passing lane to the left opened up beautifully!
Kante firmly struck the middle of the ball with the inside of his foot, delivering a crisp, seemingly unremarkable pass.
Perhaps extremely wary of Jeremy Ling's explosive acceleration from their earlier footrace, Kyle Walker had positioned himself slightly deeper.
But he reacted quickly to the pass and closed in immediately.
'No matter what tricks you have, I won't let you turn and face me!' Walker thought.
He felt the physical force of Ling in front of him, his entire face flushed red from exertion, realizing the two were not even in the same weight class when Ling planted his feet!
Ling raised his left arm to legally block, using his strong body to perfectly shield the ball from Kyle Walker, and gently tapped the rolling ball with his right foot.
The softness of the touch was simply indescribable.
It created a magical illusion for the fans in the stands—it wasn't Ling's foot guiding the football, but the football guiding Ling's foot.
The ball slid smoothly past Ling's back and slipped cleanly through Kyle Walker's planted legs!
'Why is this kid so incredibly difficult to handle?!' Kyle Walker felt extremely frustrated.
From his days at Tottenham to Manchester City, he rarely encountered a forward like this, he always felt anxious and on edge during every defensive moment against Ling.
The key was, you simply never knew what move Ling would pull out of his bag!
Ally McCoist: "The Cruyff Turn! And a nutmeg! Oh, that is absolutely filthy from Ling!"
Clive Tyldesley: "It's a brutally practical dribbling move to shake off that tight defensive pressure from behind! A perfect, seamless combination of feints, speed, and sheer flexibility!"
By the time Clive's voice rang out, Ling had already completed the fluid move and dribbled several meters forward into the Manchester City half.
Remembering Guardiola's strict instructions about cynical fouls, Kyle Walker quickly turned around in a panic, using both hands and feet to desperately cling to Ling's jersey.
He wished he could physically hang onto Ling's body to stop the counter.
A foul near the halfway line might not even warrant a yellow card, Ling realized as he felt the heavy pull.
Due to Mourinho's deep tactical setup, Manchester United had very few clear counterattacking opportunities today, and Ling was completely unwilling to let this precious one go to waste by simply falling over for a cheap free kick.
So he physically dragged Kyle Walker along with him for three strides, adjusting his difficult posture with immense core effort, and swung his left foot for a sweeping, volleyed long pass while falling to the turf!
'Are you even human?' Kyle Walker stared in absolute disbelief from the ground as the pass was launched.
The next second, a dull thud echoed.
Boom!!!
Under the glare of dozens of Wembley spotlights, the ball seemed like a meteor streaking across the London sky, spinning violently as it dropped toward the right flank.
The cheers of the Manchester United fans grew even louder, morphing into a roar.
The exact reason they loved Jeremy Ling was precisely because of that never-give-up, warrior spirit he embodied on every single play.
And it was this exact spirit that had helped Manchester United rise from the ashes of the Munich air disaster and establish the dominant era of the Red Devils!
Riyad Mahrez anticipated the ball's tricky landing point, gritted his teeth, and sprinted desperately.
It was a chance Ling had created with all his might.
He simply couldn't waste it!
Zinchenko, who was "parking the bus" in defense, had naturally assumed Jeremy Ling would go down under Walker's heavy challenge to win a free kick, never expecting him to successfully pass the ball out instead.
Caught completely off guard and having foolishly let his guard down, Zinchenko now recklessly stepped forward out of the defensive line to press Mahrez.
"GET BACK, OLEK!" Aymeric Laporte's frantic, screaming reminder came half a beat too late.
Laporte could only watch in horror as Mahrez controlled the dropping ball with one velvet touch, brutally feinted past the rushing Zinchenko, and left the young Ukrainian completely in the dust!
Whoosh!!!
At Wembley Stadium, the Manchester United fans in the stands suddenly rose to their feet like a blazing red flame.
Then, impassioned singing erupted.
"Red Devils march on, glory belongs to Manchester United!"
"Wembley! Wembley!"
"We are the great Manchester United!"
Mahrez charged toward the penalty area at full speed, dribbling the ball tightly while observing the retreating defensive players' positions.
Ling and Kyle Walker were still tangled in the midfield, definitely too late to join this rapid attack. A strange, powerful feeling suddenly washed over the Algerian winger.
Ever since he arrived at Manchester United, he had almost always seen Ling's familiar figure in every single offensive move, taking the spotlight.
Mahrez had always played a supporting role before, but today, right now, he wanted to be the main protagonist.
Otamendi had to stay central to mark Lukaku, and Laporte would surely press forward to close Mahrez down.
'If I can just get past him...'
Although Lukaku often missed golden chances in front of goal, his attacking awareness was decent enough.
He immediately made a darting run in the opposite direction, successfully dragging Otamendi away from the play.
Mahrez knew his natural, straight-line explosiveness was lacking compared to Sané or Sterling.
But his absolute strengths were rhythm and elite technique.
So, with quick, successive touches, he chopped inside, created a sliver of space from Laporte, and immediately swung his wand of a left foot.
Laporte instinctively stuck out a desperate foot to block the shot.
Clive Tyldesley: "Mahrez shifts the ball again! A bit of Arjen Robben's flair about him!"
Ally McCoist: "He cuts inside, he shoots... Oh, beautiful!"
Clive Tyldesley: "GOAL! Manchester United have taken the lead! In the dying embers of the cup final, in the 81st minute, Riyad Mahrez has scored a truly precious goal!"
Ally McCoist: "Now, as long as Mourinho's men hold onto this score, they'll be lifting the trophy tonight!"
Boom!!!
Wembley Stadium boiled over like a pot of water, bubbling and churning violently with noise.
After scoring, Mahrez didn't run to the corner flag to celebrate alone.
Instead, he jogged all the way back over to Ling and hugged him tightly.
"Ling, thanks to you—not only for fighting to pass the ball but for delivering such an unbelievable quality pass while falling."
"Honestly, Riyad, that pass of mine had a massive bit of luck to it," Lingy replied, exchanging a high-five and a hug while staying humble.
He wasn't entirely lying, because delivering that pinpoint 40-yard pass while losing balance and being hauled down was incredibly difficult.
Hadn't they seen Kyle Walker still struggling to recover his pride?
It was because Walker couldn't wrap his head around how Ling had done it, hanging his head as he apologized to his teammates.
"Sorry, lads. My fault entirely."
"It's fine, Kyle. The game isn't over yet. Let's keep going!" De Bruyne reassured him quickly.
As long as he wasn't dealing with Thibaut Courtois, De Bruyne was always an understanding teammate.